Children and Armed Conflict September 2020

Newsletter on Children’s rights – Children and Armed Conflict September 2020

Table of content

Colombia - How Colombia’s armed groups are exploiting COVID-19 to recruit children ...... 1 Global - Prioriser les enfants pour qu’advienne la paix dans le monde ...... 2 Global - Security Council demands an end to attacks on schools worldwide ...... 2 Global - 'I had to kill so many people': the battle to protect children in conflicts ...... 2 Global - Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict: Remarks by Ms. Virginia Gamba, SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict ...... 2 India - Children worst affected as terror networks spread their tentacles across borders: India at United Nations ...... 3 Libya - UN chief urges closure of all migrant detention centres in Libya ...... 3 Mexico - Conflicto armado y Covid-19 arrebatan educación a los niños indígenas ...... 3 Sub-Saharan Africa - Experts: Boko Haram Recruiting Children as Soldiers, Suicide Bombers ...... 3 Paraguay - Legisladores buscan penalizar el uso de niños en conflictos armados ...... 4 Sahel - Les groupes armés continuent d'enrôler les enfants soldats ...... 4 United Arab Emirates - Houthis violated children’s rights almost 66,000 times in 4 years ...... 4 Yemen - UN: Houthi rebels in Yemen recruited teenage girls ...... 4

Colombia - How Colombia’s armed groups are exploiting COVID-19 to recruit children

10th September - Almost as many children are estimated to have joined armed groups in Colombia in the first half of this year as in the whole of 2019, as the economic and social fallout of the coronavirus pandemic provides fertile ground for recruiters amid a resurgence of violence and conflict.

THE NEW HUMANITARIAN - Full article

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Global - Prioriser les enfants pour qu’advienne la paix dans le monde 21 septembre - Dans sa 10e année à l’Université Dalhousie, en Nouvelle-Écosse, l’Institut Dallaire, récemment relancé, appelle la communauté internationale à soutenir une approche frontale des droits de l’enfant afin de parvenir à la paix et à la sécurité mondiales.

RADIO-CANADA INTERNATIONAL - Article complet

Global - Security Council demands an end to attacks on schools worldwide 10th September - The Security Council on Thursday demanded a halt to attacks on schools, together with students and teachers in conflict zones around the world, in a presidential statement coinciding with the first International Day to Protect Education from Attack. Worldwide, 75 million children live in 35 countries in conflict. The largest number of verified attacks on schools in 2019 were in Syria, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Afghanistan and Somalia.

UN NEWS - Full article

Global - 'I had to kill so many people': the battle to protect children in conflicts 9th September - 25,000 grave violations were committed against children in conflict in 2019, says the UN, which hopes to highlight issue with new international day. The UN secretary general defended the move, saying: “This day highlights the often hidden – but crucially important – violation of children’s rights in conflict: the right to an education.”

THE GUARDIAN - Full article

Global - Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict: Remarks by Ms. Virginia Gamba, SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict

10th September - In 2011, Security Council resolution 1998 called to ensure that schools are protected and expanded the listing criteria of the Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict to include attacks on schools, and attacks and threats on education personnel.

CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT - Full article

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India - Children worst affected as terror networks spread their tentacles across borders: India at United Nations 11th September - Children are worst affected as terror networks spread their tentacles across the borders and threaten peace, India has said in a veiled reference to Pakistan, as it called on the UN member states to demonstrate a greater political will to ensure perpetrators of terrorism are held accountable for abusing child rights.

DECLAN HERALD - Full article

Libya - UN chief urges closure of all migrant detention centres in Libya 4th September - Report says more than 2,780 people held in centres, with about one fifth of them being children. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has called for the closure of all detention centres holding refugees and migrants in Libya, condemning what he described as human rights violations committed there.

ALJAZEERA - Full article

Mexico - Conflicto armado y Covid-19 arrebatan educación a los niños indígenas Septiembre 17 - Grupos armados en los límites de Santa Martha causan un ambiente de terror en 13 comunidades, lo que ha paralizado todas las actividades, incluyendo la educación, explica a Efe Rosas Santiz, representante de los comuneros desplazados de Aldama.

FORBES - Artículo completo

Sub-Saharan Africa - Experts: Boko Haram Recruiting Children as Soldiers, Suicide Bombers

4th September - The militant group Boko Haram continues to recruit children and use them in battlefields across Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, officials and experts say.

VOA - Full article

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Paraguay - Legisladores buscan penalizar el uso de niños en conflictos armados 24 de Septiembre - El Frente Parlamentario por los Derechos de la Niñez y la Adolescencia del Congreso Nacional se encuentra trabajando en una nueva normativa que penalice la utilización y la participación de menores de edad en conflictos armados y otros hechos punibles. El planteamiento está siendo analizado y estudiado por la instancia legislativa para su posterior presentación.

LA NACION - Artículo completo

Sahel - Les groupes armés continuent d'enrôler les enfants soldats

12 septembre - Déployés dans la région pour lutter contre les djihadistes, la force Barkhane et ses partenaires du G5 (Mali, Burkina, Mauritanie, Niger, Tchad) ont multiplié ces derniers temps des offensives dans la zone des trois frontières pour neutraliser des combattants islamistes. Malgré cela, les insurgés sont déterminés à utiliser les jeunes recrues dans les batailles durant le mandat du nouveau commandant de l’opération française, le général Marc Conruyt.

AGENCE D’INFORMATION D’AFRIQUE CENTRALE - Article complet

United Arab Emirates - Houthis violated children’s rights almost 66,000 times in 4 years 28th September - The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms, in a report from state news agency Saba New, said that the Iran-backed Houthis perpetrated 65,971 offenses against minors in nearly four years since they started monitoring the militia’s activities. The crimes purported happened between Jan. 1, 2015 and Aug. 30, 2019, the report added.

ARAB NEWS - Full article

Yemen - UN: Houthi rebels in Yemen recruited teenage girls 9th September - UN-backed investigators have found evidence that rebels in Yemen recruited nearly three dozen teenage girls – some said to be survivors of sexual violence – as spies, medics, guards and members of an all-female force.

ALJAZEERA - Full article

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